Hello Everyone!

Some early afternoon writing, The practicality of the bar, Setting up a tarp roof, My 4G cellular repeater died & That pesky poison ivy!

Alright, it is my nap time... but I decided to get a head-start on the writing for the day instead of snoozing the afternoon away. Given that yesterday's entry was only pictures... and that I did not even attempt to do any writing... after having had such a long day... hopefully I can make up for it some with this entry.

Getting the bar built was a huge step for me... and although I feel haunted by having recently written about not wanting to halfass anything that I build... I did exactly that with the construction of that bar. It was definitely one of those projects that 'just needed to happen' and the longer I mulled over how and where to build it... the more that I just wanted to get it done and over with.

Aside from having somewhere to set the music rig up at... it is also nice to have somewhere with flat surfaces to set stuff down at... and somewhere to simply hang out at that is not my camp. I doubt that I have mentioned how much of a hassle it has been to find places to set my tools down at (when I am working on stuff) or to stage tools that I will need for a task... but now that I have the bar it can act as a central point to work from and will eliminate a lot of hassle along the way.

Just after sunset last night I dug out one of my two good (unused) tarps... and covered all the electronics on the bar with it to protect them from moisture. Then this morning (not long after sunrise) I set about tethering the tarp above the bar with some rope... so that it would not only act as a roof... but also as a catchment for rainwater.

Oddly enough, not long after getting the tarp setup a storm blew in... and it rained really hard for a short amount of time before clearing up again. Something told me that I needed to move quickly on getting the tarp setup this morning... and I am glad that I listened to it... because the way that I had the tarp draped over everything that little storm probably would have blown it away.

In other news my 4G capable cellular repeater quit working... and I think that it got overheated in that outdoor housing that I built for it. I really thought that I had left enough ventilation (and dead air) inside the housing... so that would not happen... but I think that when I moved it from the shade... and into a sunnier spot that I should have rethought the way that I had it housed.

Those repeaters are not cheap by any means... but without one I cannot do anything online in a reasonable amount of time... if it works at all. There being so many clouds at the moment is not helping either... and although I did setup my older repeater I do not think that the bands that it amplifies are used by my phone because I cannot see any difference when using it.

One way or another I will have to solve the internet connectivity issue quickly... because it is how I do pretty much everything... and going without it is not an option. As a side note I did look around a little online for used 4G repeaters (like the one I have) and the price is not that horrible if I only buy the amplifier itself without the antennas, coaxial cable or power cord.

Currently I have also used up all my monthly highspeed data... and am throttled at 128kbps... which after tethering I might be getting half that speed... which yup is nearly useless for the internet of this day and age. In the end it might be well worth it to get the fiber internet service that is available here... but at the moment I cannot fathom how I would come up with the funds for the installation fees let alone the monthly bill.

Speaking of bills I got my first power bill for my electric service... and I think that all total I used around sixteen kilowatt hours over the course of my first month here. The bill did seem kind of high though.. but I think that might be due to some kind of service fee... for getting the overhead line connected and the service enabled.

Anyways, I am still having a heck of a time with all that poison ivy that I got on my legs, ankles and feet in the first few days that I was here. The really annoying part is that most of the time I need to be wearing my Muck boots (to deal with the terrain) and my feet stay pretty hot in them... which means they sweat a lot which in turn means the poison ivy effected areas are staying entirely too damp.

In an effort to help my feet dry out I have been trying to wear my other shoes more often... but now that it has rained a few times (and everything is slick) it makes getting around the place even more of a challenge. Like I have said numerous times before my 'camps' are pretty sprawled out... and separated by a big gulch to boot... so simply being in one area is not even an option.

All that jazz aside I am pretty stoked to see if any mushrooms pop up after all the recent rain events that we have been having. Since the price of groceries are much higher here than where I was at previously... I am going to need to do more foraging... and whatever else I can to bolster my food supply.

Well, I think that is all the words that I have in me for this entry. I hope that everyone is doing well. Ta ta for now.

The tarp covering the bar!

On this side of the bar I used one corner of the tarp to make a partial wall.

Sometimes ya just need an over-sized stake!

It is so frigging cloudy but at least it is pretty!

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All content found in this post is mine!